I've got a Troy Bilt snow blower. At the end of "snow season" in 2019, I siphoned out the gas, ran it dry, then changed the oil.
At the end of this year's "almost no snow" season, I'm finally ready to put it away for the warm weather. My plan is to siphon gas, run it dry, but not change the oil, as the total run time for this winter was less than 5 minutes.
Is it okay to do that?
Thanks in advance.

 

It's OK with me since I don't ever change the oil in mine, I just keep the level checked. With todays oil products I don't see the need and I have never had any problems.

 

That's fine, the oil won't go bad just sitting there for a season, just like it won't go bad in the bottle. I wouldn't recommend never changing it though, lots of soot and contaminates enter the oil, and oil breaks down worse in small engines because they run much hotter than car engines.

 

I change oil based on use not age. I've got some machines that don't get much use with oil several years old.

 

When I see posts about the quality of oil products and comments like "I never change the oil, just add it, or I only change the filter" It reminds me about a relatively new Cadillac that was in the next bay at my local service center. I knew the tech very well, and he called me over and said "Hey Bill, come take a look at this" When the tech tried to get a reading on the tester for the ignition, he couldn't get one, as the oil pump shaft that also rotated the ignition rotor, had snapped in two. He had removed the oil pan to get to the pump and shaft, and discovered a thick layer of sludge in the bottom of the pan, that the oil pump had finally given up on trying to pump and snapped the shaft. I asked the tech what the owners story was on this, and he said he" never changes the oil, just the filter" They had to replace the engine in this car.
I am not going to preach to anyone about changing oil at recommended intervals, but I will always believe that Oil is cheaper than steel, and err on the side of changing oil too much, to changing it "not enough" Your machines work for you, why not give them a break, and take care of them?